Among the Frightened
by xXxHannaHxXx
Summary: Rewritten ending of Among the Hidden.
1. Chapter 1

"Open up, Population Police!" an officer yelled, as he pounded on the Garner's wooden door.

"Hold on," Mrs. Garner replied, then whispered, "Luke, hide."

Things were always like this in the Garner house. Whenever someone was at the door, Luke would have to hide in the attic or behind the stairs. Luke wasn't like any other child; he was a third child. Because there wasn't enough food in town, people weren't allowed to have three children, only one or two. If Luke wanted to live he would have to make sacrifices, he had to eat by the stairs, sleep in the attic, not play outside, not have friends, and not go to school.

Mrs. Garner scurried to the door and replied, "Yes officer?"

"I was sent here by a couple who claims to have seen three children. Do you know what we do to third children?" the officer stopped long enough to see Mrs. Garner nod. Then he shoved past her to search the house. "Call your children," he ordered without turning his head toward her.

"Uh, Mark, Matthew, come down here. I assure you officer I have only two sons. This couple must have been mistaken."

"Yes, mom?" Matthew answered as he finished going down the stairs.

" Where's your father?" the officer asked.

"He's at work, sir," Mark replied.

"Is there anyone else up there? Come down immediately or I will come up and shoot!" the officer said as he headed up the stairs, with his gun up high. "Stay here."

Soon enough the officer came down with a look of defeat. "There's no one up there. I'll be watching you though." Once they heard the door click they ran to Luke's room.

"Luke, how could you be so careless to let people see you through a window! Just wait until your father hears this! We make sacrifices and this is how you repay us! We could easily turn you in to the population police!" Mrs. Garner yelled.

"Mom, I'm sorry!" Luke replied.

"You better be," Mark said.

Before closing the door, Mrs. Garner replied, "When your father comes he'll straighten you out."

About two hours later, the attic door reopened. Luke looked up and saw his father's disappointed face. "How could you! You don't deserve to live. You're lucky that I feel pity. Tomorrow you'll be left alone in the house, your mom and I are going to work and your brothers will be at school. I will not hear that the Population Police came to this house while we were gone, do you understand?"

"Yes," Luke answered.

He lowered his head so that his father wouldn't see that he was actually happy. Luke had made a friend just days before. It was his new neighbor, Jen. She was a third child too. Jen believed that it wasn't fair that all third children should be killed, she thought that they should be as free as anyone else. Maybe that was why Luke admired her, that, or he really did like her. He wasn't sure.

They would hang out in her house. She was a baron (wealthy person), so she had chips, ice cream, popcorn, and other kinds of junk food. Luke didn't have any of that so he was always delighted when Jen offered him something to eat.

Luke was so excited he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed, until finally he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke woke up to his mother kissing him goodbye. "Goodbye, Luke. I'll see you later."

"Bye, mom," Luke whispered. He flipped his covers over his head so it would seem as if he were tired. Once the door was shut, Luke jumped out of bed and tried to fix up his hair and clothes so that it would seem as if he wasn't such a slob. Or he just wanted to impress Jen.

Once everyone left the house Luke tip-toed into the kitchen, then to the back door, then outside, and finally to Jen's backdoor. Luke knocked softly five times, and waited for Jen to come to the door. Luke stood for about one minute. Jen looked absolutely delighted to see Luke's face.

"Hey, let's get some chips and then we can go on the computer," Jen said as she led him to the kitchen.

"Yeah," Luke replied. He didn't say anymore because he was to busy staring at Jen. He didn't feel this way before because the only people that he had known before Jen was his mother, father, and two brothers. He never met anyone else.

Jen poured chips into a large bowl and then went to the computer with Luke behind her. "I'm planning this really big rally in two days so that we can be free. All third children will be there. Are you gonna come?"

"Don't you think that's dangerous?" Luke asked.

"Of course, but if this is what I am supposed to do to stop this evil, then I will. So, are you coming?" Jen said.

"I--I don't know." Luke stuttered.

"Don't worry, I'll give you time to think about it. You can tell me tomorrow. I know that you're not sure," Jen supposed.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Luke replied. He stood up and headed to the door.

"Luke, you don't have to if you don't want to. But I would really like it if you were there!" Jen called.

Luke acted as if he hadn't heard her and left her house.

"What should I do?" Luke questioned himself as he rolled on his bed. "I don't want Jen to think that I'm frightened, if I go then I could get really hurt, wait, Jen could get really hurt. I have to protect her. I have to talk her out of it." Luke lay on his bed trying to find the right words. "Jen don't go you can get seriously injured. Or there's no chance of you winning so just give up. Or Jen the only cool thing to do is stay here, so be cool. Or Jen don't leave me I'm scared!" Luke made up his mind, and then he fell asleep.

Luke woke up to his mother shaking him, "Luke, it's time for dinner. Come down when you're ready." Mrs. Garner waited to see him nod, and then she went down the stairs.

Luke got up and headed to get some food. Bread and eggs, a regular dinner at the Garner house. Luke sat by the stairs and ate his food.

"So what have you been up to all day?" Luke's father asked, but looked at Matthew so it would seem like he was talking to him even though he wasn't.

"Nothing," Luke whispered.

"We'll be out of the house tommorow again, so be good, " Mr. Garner replied.

"Dad, stop treating me like a baby!" Luke snapped.

"You will behave!" Mr. Garner yelled. The rest of the dinner was silent. Luke immediately went to bed after dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke once again woke up to his mother's light kiss. "Bye, Luke."

"Bye," Luke replied as he watched his mother walk out the door. Today he was in no rush to talk to Jen; he knew she would be disappointed in him. He wouldn't ever want to disappoint her. Luke took his time. Today he made sure he looked very fine, he even used he father's cologne. Luke thought that it might make Jen impressed that he smelled good and then she wouldn't be so angry.

Once again Luke sneaked to Jen's house and knocked softly five times. When Luke saw Jen's smiling face with a bit of nervousness, he couldn't help but feel nervous himself.

"So, what's your answer?" Jen asked still smiling.

Luke started, "Jen, I know this rally means a lot to you but I think that it's very dangerous and-"

"I told you this might be dangerous, but I will do anything to be free, I thought that you would want that," Jen interrupted.

"I do, Jen, but I would rather have to hide than risk my life," Luke said

"So you're not going to come?" Jen asked. Her smile finally turned into a deep frown.

"I'm sorry," Luke said. Then he ran through the back door and to his house. He didn't really care if he was caught; he just wanted to go home.

"Luke?" Luke's dad called. Luke hadn't noticed that he had fallen asleep.

"Yeah?" Luke murmured.

"Dinner time," Mr. Garner said, then got up and left the room. Luke got up and went down so that could eat.

"Luke, why aren't you eating your corn? You love corn." Mrs. Garner said with a worried look on her face.

Luke hadn't noticed that until his mother had brought up that subject. "Things on my mind," Luke said.

"What?" Mr. Garner asked.

"Nothing, Nothing," Luke said.

"What?" Mr. Garner asked again.

"Nothing," Luke said once more.

"What?" Luke's dad took his eyes off the food and looked at Luke.

"Nothing, I'm not hungry!" Luke yelled this time, pushed his plate and went to his room.

Luke had expected his mom or dad to follow him, but to his surprise no one came. Luke just went to sleep; thinking everything the next day would be fine.


	4. Chapter 4

Luke tossed and turned in his sleep, his mind being haunted by horrible dreams about Jen and the rally, about what could happen to her, about her death… He awoke with a start. Perspiration dotted his forehead and he sat up. He could hear footsteps.

"Who's there?" he asked nervously, squinting his eyes through the darkness to try and make out a clear outline of a mysterious dark figure.

There was no answer. The footsteps were closer now, louder.

"Who's there?" he asked again, getting up from his bed.

Once again, there was no answer. The footsteps were at their loudest at this point, and… BOOM! The attic door crashed open.

Luke screamed.

"It's me, Luke. It's me!" a soft, feminine voice exclaimed, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other over his mouth.

"Jen? Jen…" It took a moment for Luke to let the scene register itself into his mind. "Jen."

She took her hand off his shoulder. "Okay, I get it. I'm Jen," she would have laughed if it weren't for the tension in the room.

"What're you doing here?" Luke asked slowly, trying to figure out where she was. He would have turned on the light if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to get caught.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the rally again," Jen said.

"I already told you, I'm not going," his voice was steady. After all his nightmares, he didn't want to go. And quite frankly, he didn't want her to go either. "And you're not going either."

"I am, Luke. It's okay if you're not going… But I thought you were brave, I looked up to you…" Jen's voice trailed off, and for a moment, Luke could see a softer side of her, a vulnerable one.

"Me? Brave?" Luke would have laughed too.

"Well, yeah. I mean, you always came to visit me in my house, and I never went to yours," she explained, leaning in closer to him.

"No, Jen. You're the brave one, I'm just… me. I'm just Luke," he couldn't believe Jen didn't even think of herself as a brave person. She organized a rally and created an illegal chat room for all the third children. She broke rules and followed her instincts without even thinking of the consequences.

"But you're the brave one, Luke."

"If you think I'm still gonna go to that rally…" Luke let his voice trail off.

"It's not about that anymore. I know you don't want to go. I just wanted to… say good bye."

"You're really going, huh?"

"Yeah," Jen said, trying to make her voice strong. "You'll see. We'll make all the third children free... without your help. Without you."

"But, Jen…"

"What?"

"I… I don't want you to go," Luke couldn't believe he just said that.

"You, don't?" she asked.

"No. You're…" he couldn't say it. He couldn't tell her that after the short amount of time they spent together, he had developed feelings for her. He just couldn't.

"I'm, what?" she leaned in closer to him, allowing Luke to know where she was.

"I… I don't want you to go," he said again. Luke wasn't about to tell her why.

She stepped back. "I _am_ going, Luke. You can't change my mind."

"I know."

Jen turned around, walking back toward the attic door. "I'll see you then."

Luke didn't say anything.

"Bye," she closed the door.

Luke sat still, listening to the soft sounds of her feet against the wooden stairs. He was letting her go. He was letting her go. He was letting her go.

"Jen, wait!" his voice was too quiet to be heard, so he got up and stampeded down the attic stairs. "Jen!"

She turned around to face him. "Be quiet!" she hissed.

"Who did that? Honey, check on the boys!" Luke could hear his mother's voice.

Mark and Matthew were opening their doors. "Who's there?"

Luke could feel his heart race. "Come on!"

Jen didn't move.

He sprinted down the stairs and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" He pulled her up to his attic room and shut the door quickly, bombarding it with a chair.

"Jen…"

"Why did you come back? You woke up your family!" she whispered loudly.

"I… I…" This was it, the big moment; he was going to tell her… "I think I-"

BOOM! The door banged, nearly falling out of its hinges.

"Luke! Luke, honey!" his mother called, banging on the door once again.

"Jen, hide, I need to talk to you after she's gone," he whispered.

Jen nodded, for a second forgetting that he couldn't see her in the dark. "Yeah," she said. "But where?"

"Anywhere!" The door banged once again, and Luke pushed her toward the narrow crevice in the roof. "Hide there!"

The door slammed open and Luke quickly jumped onto his bed, pretending to be asleep.

"Luke?" Mrs. Garner asked quietly. "Luke, honey?"

"What?" he asked with fake grogginess.

"I heard you scream and run down the stairs. Are you okay?" she asked.

"Nightmares…" he mumbled.

"Well, okay. Sleep well, and remember that if you do that again, someone else might hear you and you could get turned in to the population police," she said as if it were a way to make his sleep better.

"I know."

"Good." Mrs. Garner stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as Luke was sure she was gone, he bombarded his door again and climbed up to the roof to talk to Jen. She was waiting for him, like he had asked her to.

"Hey."

"Hey," Jen scooted over to give him space to sit. "This place is really nice. You have a great view and everything."

"I know. I found out about it a few days ago," Luke said.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Jen asked softly, leaning closer to him again.

"I don't want you to go to the rally," Luke whispered hoarsely.

"Again? Luke, we already talked about this! If I don't go, then who will? All the third children should be free!" Jen exclaimed.

"I don't want you to go," he repeated, "because I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt, Luke," she said confidently.

"I don't want to chance that," he whispered, placing his hand over her own.

She said nothing and looked away.

"Jen! I really care about you! I…" he turned away as well. He had just imposed that he… had feelings for her…

"You do?" she asked quietly, looking back up at him.

"Well, yeah… You're smart, you're fun, you're brave, you're pretty…" his voice trailed off, a blush creeping its way onto his face.

She turned away again, a blush on her face too. "I… kinda feel the same way about you…"

"You do?" It was his turn to ask.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

Luke took her hand. "I know I can't change your mind about the rally, and I'm not gonna be going either, but I want you to be safe."

"I will be, Luke," she said.

The two went back down to the attic, and then back down to Luke's kitchen. Jen opened the back door and smiled softly, hoping that she looked more confident than she felt. "I'll see you after the rally, then."

"Okay. See ya, Jen." Luke leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, allowing her entire her face to turn a bright shade of pink.

She smiled too, and walked away from the house. She gave Luke a small wave and ran back to her own.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke woke up. Was last night real? Did he really tell Jen his feelings? Did he really kiss Jen? Then it came to Luke "Today is the day. Today is the rally." He said beneath his breath.

Luke freshened up and wore his best set of trousers. Of course it was dirty. He didn't have any clean ones.

Luke had made up his mind. It was treacherous, but Luke was going to do it. Luke was going to go to the rally. Luke wanted to tell her that he was going to the rally as soon as possible. Luke wanted to go now but he couldn't his parents were home.

Luke tiptoed to his parent's room and saw that they weren't going to work today. He could tell because they would usually put out there clothes. Luke was so disappointed. How could he go and tell Jen he was coming? How could he go to the rally? Luke was confused. Luke felt like he was defeated. Jen would go soon. He would never get to go.

Luke decided he was going to go to the rally. And he was going to tell Jen. His love for her was stronger then his fear of being yelled at by his parents. Luke wrote a note on a page he had ripped out from his books. It read: I left but I will be back soon.

Luke left the house and headed to Jen's. He knocked on the screened door lightly. When Jen had seen him standing, her face lit up like a candle. Jen opened it with a mammoth smile on her face. After a second her smile left and was replaced with a confused face.

"Why are you here? I thought that you weren't coming." Jen said in a hushed tone.

Luke replied, "Jen, I wanted to tell you that I wanted to come."

"But why? I thought that you didn't want to come."

"I am coming because if you're going to do this then I want to too."

"It's dangerous."

"I know, but I'd risk my life for you." Luke said, he had already told her his feelings so he couldn't lie at this point.

"Oh, Luke" A smile came back on her face.

Luke cleared his voice and said, "When are we going?"

"In a couple minutes."

Luke and Jen ate chips and ate popcorn. Then Jen said, "It's time."

Luke new what she meant. Luke was going to be the most spine-chilling experience ever.


	6. Chapter 6

The car slowed and the building was now in site. It was much larger then Luke had imagined. He never thought he would ever witness.

Luke was pale as a ghost. Jen opened the car door and pulled him out. There were about three hundred children waiting there for them. They took out their signs. They said "Let us be free!" or "Be fair! Let us live!"

Everyone chanted, even Luke "Let us free!" It was earsplitting.

Suddenly many cars appeared. Out came Luke's parents, Jen's parents, everyone's.

Luke thought that they were going to make them go home before they were killed but to his surprise they chanted along with them.

Their throats were dry. Many stopped and went to look for some water, but Jen and Luke were still as energetic and thunderous as ever.

Soon it was getting dark. Everyone was wondering if they should stop. They were now losing hope.

All of a sudden a man came out of the building pointing a gun at the chanting children.


	7. Chapter 7

The children's voices lowered in horror.

The man raised his gun towards the sky and shot. He yelled, "We surrender!" he didn't have to say anything else because everyone knew what he was talking about.

The silence then became deafening cheers and hugs and kisses.

Jen was joyful and merry. She turned towards Luke and embraced him. "We did it!" she yelled

"No," Luke said "You did it, if it weren't for you this would have never happened."

Jen smiled at Luke. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"What?"

"We're free! We can go to school! We can go outside! We don't have to hide and it won't matter if someone sees us!" Jen said watching Luke smile

Jen kissed Luke on the cheek, then ran towards her parents, leaving Luke standing there holding the place where Jen had kissed him.


End file.
